Braxton Hicks or labour? How to tell the difference
The short answer
Braxton Hicks are practice tightenings. They are usually irregular, they do not settle into a rhythm, and they often ease when you change what you are doing, move, rest, or drink some water. Labour contractions build a pattern: they come at increasingly regular intervals, get stronger, and keep coming no matter what you do.
The difference, in one line: a pattern that keeps going.
The two can overlap, especially late in pregnancy, and no article can tell you which one you are having. If your hospital or gynae has already given you instructions about when to come in, their instructions come first, always.
Quick comparison
| Braxton Hicks | Labour contractions | |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Irregular, no pattern | Become regular, intervals shorten |
| Strength | Stays similar, often mild | Builds, each wave stronger |
| Movement or rest | Often eases | Keeps coming regardless |
| Where it is felt | Often the front of the bump | Often wraps from back to front |
| Over time | Fades or stays scattered | Progresses |
These are common patterns described by maternity sources, not diagnostic rules. Bodies differ, and first labours and later labours differ too.
What Braxton Hicks can feel like
A tightening or hardening of the bump that comes and goes. Some describe it as the whole belly going firm for a stretch, then softening. It is often more surprising than painful, more common from the second half of pregnancy, and often shows up after activity, a long day, or not drinking enough.
What labour contractions can feel like
A wave that builds, peaks and releases, often starting in the back and wrapping around, sometimes felt like strong period cramping that keeps returning. What sets labour apart is less how one contraction feels and more what the series does: closer together, longer, stronger, and indifferent to whether you rest, walk or shower.
When to contact your maternity team
Call your hospital's delivery suite or your gynae's clinic, at any hour, if any of these happen:
- Your waters break, or you think they may have, even without contractions.
- Any bleeding.
- Your baby is moving less than usual, or the movements feel different to you. Do not wait for morning.
- Pain that is severe, constant, or feels wrong to you.
- You feel unwell in yourself, feverish, faint, or something simply does not feel right.
- Contractions have become regular and progressive, or they match whatever pattern your own hospital told you to come in at.
- If your baby is not due yet and the tightenings are becoming regular, call, whatever else the pattern looks like.
- Your maternity team has already told you to come in for any reason of their own. Their instruction wins over anything written here.
Nobody at the delivery suite will be annoyed that you called. They would far rather see you and send you home. If it is severe or sudden, call 995 or go to A&E.
What your partner can do
- Time the contractions, so nobody is trying to remember while also breathing through one. Note when each starts and how long it lasts.
- Have the delivery suite number saved in your contacts, under a name in capitals, before tonight.
- Bring the hospital bag to the door. If it is not packed, pack it now. Here is the Singapore list, including what to pack for yourself.
- When the maternity team gives an instruction, write it down and follow it.
- Stay calm and practical. That is the whole job tonight.
Keeping track of the pattern
Because the honest difference is the pattern, the useful thing to record is when each tightening starts, how long it lasts, and the gap between them, from the first one, so the pattern is written down as it happens rather than remembered.
Related reading
- What to actually pack for a Singapore hospital
- What to ask at your next check-up
- For partners: what to actually do
Do this now
Find your hospital or clinic's 24-hour number on your appointment card and save it in your phone now, under a name in capitals. That is tonight's whole job.
The One Journey contraction timer records each one and shows you the spacing, so you can read the numbers to the delivery suite instead of guessing. It cannot tell you whether you are in labour. Always follow your own hospital's instructions. They vary.
The timer is one of the tools inside One Journey, the S$29 one-time pregnancy app for Singapore. One payment, two sign-ins, so your partner can time while you breathe.
Sources
- HealthXchange (SingHealth), Braxton Hicks vs real contractions. Accessed 9 Aug 2026.
- Thomson Medical, When to go to hospital for labour in Singapore. Accessed 9 Aug 2026.
One Journey offers support and organisation. It is not medical advice. Your own maternity team's instructions always come first. If something feels urgent, call 995 or go to A&E.